It's A Dong Life!

I'm not exactly sure why or how Marc knew this word, but he's always called the little village behind our house the "dong". Yoonsuh told us that's not quite right. A dong is more like a town and the village behind us is, well, a village. It's teeny tiny. There are only houses, no shops. When I look up the meaning of 'dong' I don't see any mention of 'town', but she said that's what it means, so we're sticking with it. And even though the village isn't actually a dong, we're still sticking with it. We like to go on family "dong walks" in the evening after dinner when it cools down. That's when the huge spiders spin their webs. And it's when we see a lot of our neighbors out resting after a long day of working in their fields. It's usually elderly women squatting and chatting or elderly men squatting and smoking. They smile and say all sorts of things to the boys. We just smile back and wave and nod our heads. A few ladies taught us how to say doggy and spider, but, sadly, I can't remember either. I wish we could really get to know them.
Every few days, usually early in the morning, different trucks will drive around with a loud speaker mounted on the roof that goes ding ding ding! and then a voice not unlike the adults from Charlie Brown will proceed to speak for several seconds. "Wah-Waah-Wa-Waah-Waaaa." At least that's what is sounds like to my foreign ear. At first I thought it was some kind of public announcement, but the drivers are actually selling things. I've seen what looks like large tins of fuel as well as a cage with dogs for sale. They drive around the streets and then move on to another dong, er, village. There is another type of truck that drives around but this one blasts heavy clouds of smoke that supposedly kills mosquitoes. We haven't yet confirmed exactly what it is, but have a feeling its chemicals and not just smoke. I've seen one of my neighbors head out for a walk only to sprint for cover when the smoke truck came rumbling up the road. It's actually pretty funny in a crazy, only-in-Korea kind of way.

Look out!

Cough...cough...wheez...gag

Now that the smoke and chemicals have settled, let's take a walk...

This house has a really old facade, but if you walk through the door you'll see a modern house behind it. I guess they just wanted to leave a remnant of the past. Older women use baby strollers, like this one, to collect veggies and walk them back home.

You can almost always find a toilet or a sink just when you need one! They really think of everything. Now how do you turn the water on?

One of those "this-would-never-be-allowed-in-the-US" road structures. These concrete squares are placed on the narrow ledge over a deep water way for irrigation. Cars and trucks have to drive over these because the road is so narrow!

The local compost heap.

The farmer in the dong, the farmer in the dong, hi-ho the dairy-o, the farmer in the dong!

Probably a storage shed.

This one has seen better days.

Laundry hanging in a courtyard.

Random poster of Jesus with German writing leaning against a wall.

What used to be an outhouse with a urinal.

Tractor Parking Only

One of the prettier yards.

Its difficult to get rid of big trash around here, so many yards are full of stuff. 1-800-GOT-JUNK could make a killing here! Oooh-business idea!!

We see very elderly men chopping up scrap wood for winter fires.

Looking back at our Truman-show neighborhood looming over the dong.

Someone's fancy gate leading into a courtyard.

What's a dong without a stray cat? Or 37.

Every dong needs an outdoor gym to keep the locals fit and trim.

Taking a breather between sets.

And of course the pagoda for gatherings and resting.

I like these.

The streets are very narrow.

A neighbor's plot of land.

One of the dogs. Chained up, of course.

Row after row of chili peppers.

Part of the irrigation system.

View towards the dong. You can see our neighborhood in the distance.

On our loop walk through the dong, across the street and into the rice fields.

The land beyond the dong. The air is THICK.

This is a grave that I've heard is referred to as a "happy mound" but that may just be what Americans call them. Usually there are 3 or 4, all from the same family, set along a hillside.

Irrigation

More irrigation. Rice paddies need lots of water!

A small river

The two white specks are egrets (I think). They're all over the rice paddies but won't let anyone get closer than about 75 yards. It is so beautiful when several of them with their huge white wings take flight against the green fields. It's a very Asian-Nat-Geo scene.

The vines have claimed the tractor!

A ball floating in a bucket of rain water. If you look closely, there is a plant growing out of the ball.

And we're back. Sometimes our house seems like a fortress or castle casting a shadow over the humble hamlet of a dong.

I wonder what the locals think of these, by their standards, mansions, and whose homes and fields used to be where our neighborhood now stands. I hope whoever it is got a whole lot of money!